Disposable hospital gown



Feb. 9, 1954 P. B..GLF IN DISPOSABLE HOSPITAL GOWN Filed April 2, 1951 INVENTOR- 'PHyLA/s .5- 6 4 P/IV Patented Feb. 9, 1954 UNITED 1 STATES PATENT OFFICE- DISPOSABLE HOSPITAL G-OWN Phyllis B. Gilpin, Woodacres, Md.

Application April 2, 1951, Serial N 0. 218,800

1 Claim. (01. 2-114) The invention relates to hospital garments,

and more particularly to hospital garments of the disposable type.

A main object of the invention is to provide'a an improved disposable hospital garment for use by medical personnel, such as surgeons and nurses, or by hospital patients, said garment being sturdy in construction, being substantially water-repellent, being readily sterilized, and being adaptable for use either in hospitals or in private practice as an economical substitute for the costly fabric gowns now used.

A still furtherv object of the invention is to provide an improved disposable sterilized gown for use by medical personnel or patients, said gown being intended as a substitute for fabric gowns now in use and having numerous advantageous features over fabric gowns, such as being water-repellent, eliminating the need for laundering, and being very inexpensive, wherebythe disposable garments may be used in war zone hospitals, on naval vessels, and in first aid Stations in locations where sanitation, laundry and steriliziation facilities are limited or are totally unavailable.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved disposable hospital gown which may be fabricated from cheap material such as paper or nonwoven fabric; which may be sterilized either prior to or subsequent to the fabrication of the garment, which involves very simple patterns for its component parts, which requires a minimum amount of handling during the fabrication thereof, which requires relatively simple machinery to construct, and which may be readily manufactured by mass production methods. v v

:Further objects and advantages of the inven.-' tion will become apparent from the following description and claim, and form the accompanyin drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view of a person wearing an improved disposable surgeon's gown constructed ,in'accordance with the present invention, a portion of the gown beingshown in crosssection.

Figure'2 is a rear view of the person, showing the rear portion of the surgeon's gown of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front view of a nurse wearing a disposable nurses gown constructed according to the present invention. r Figure 4 is a back view of an improved disposable patients gown constructed according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1, showing the details of one form of cuff which may be employed on a disposable surgeons gown according to this invention.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevational detail view, partly broken away, showing details of construction of the neck portion of a disposable gown according to the present invention.

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary crosssectional detail view showingan alternative cuff construction which may be employed in a disposable surgeons gown according to the present invention.

Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail view showing a modified form of waist construction which may be employed in a disposable hospital gown according to the present invention.

Figure 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail view of the waistband construction employed in the disposable gowns of Figures 1 to 3.

A main purpose of the present invention is to provide disposable gowns for surgeons, nurses and patients for use in operating rooms as well as for office wear, which would be usable only once and hence would not require laundering and sterilization after use, but would be thrown away. The material employed for the main portions of the gown is preferably paper or nonwoven fabric, provided with a suitable surface film to make it water-repellent, yet allowing the wearer to perspire, such as Drifilm, aluminum stearate, or a suitable plastic, either manufacturedinto the material or applied after manufacture. It is contemplated that the gowns will be sterilized by any suitable process by the manufacturer after fabrication, and packaged in hermetically sealed containers, such as vegetable parchment enve-' lopes, so that the gowns will be maintained in sterile condition until used. The gowns may also be packaged inscrew top cans and sterilized in water by heat. Thus, the gowns will be suitable for use not only in general hospitals and private medical offices but in war' zone hospitals, on naval vessels, and in first aid stations where laundering and sterilizing facilities are unavail able. The gowns may be treated so as to be waterrepellent either over their entire surface or merely in front. The gowns are manufactured in various sizes, such as small, medium and large.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, H generally designates a surgeons gown constructed in accordance with the present invention. The main body of the gown comprises a front section l2 and respective mating rear sections I3 and I4 connected tofront section l2 by shoulder'seams l5 and I6, and by side seams I7 extending from beneath the arm-f pits to the -bottom edge of the gown. The seams may be formed by gluing the margins of the sec tions together in overlapping relationship, as shown, and mechanically binding the overlapped margins by long stitches, as shown at H3. The seams may alternatively be formed by various other methods-such as by heat-sealing, employing a suitable thermoplastic sealing compound,

by stitching, or by gluing, using a type of glue which would withstand sterilization. The margin of one member may be overlapped onto the cured to the top margins of the-sections 12, I 8 and H by overlapping and stitching and/oradhering. as shown in Figure 6. The neckpiece i9 is provided at its ends withintegral tying strips 20, 2!! for fastening the ends of the neckpiece together around the wearers neck. The top margin of the neckpiece is formed with an; inwardly folded, stitched hem 2% for wearing comfort.

The sleeves of the gown are designated respectively at 22, 22 and areformed or rectangular sec tions of paper or nonwoven fabric connected together at their longitudinal edges to define tubular sleeves. The top ends of the sleeves are adhered and/or stitched to the main sections of the gown at 23 in the manner above described. The lower end portion of each sleeve is formed to define a cufi 24. As shown in Figure 5, the upper margin of the cuff comprises an integralexternal tubular heading 25 whose inner lips are secured together by adhering and/or stitching at 26,. said heading containing an elastic band 21. The lower margin of the cufi is formed with an inwardly turned hem 28 which contains an elastic band29.

As an alternative construction, the. end may comprise, a separate tubular section 24', overlapped, adhered and/or stitched on the lower marginal portion of the sleeve, shown at 22- in Figure 7. The cufi 24' is coated with a film of high temperature-resistant rubber or elastomeric material, shown at 3B, which renders the cuff substantially elastic after the elastic film 39 has been baked thereon.

Another alternative cufi may be formed by folding the cuff section into small adjacent pleats, which would be spread open to fit as the gown. is Puton.

Waterproofed industrial crepe which has been given an elasticizing treatment may also be used for cufis. Price permitting, elastic webbing .cufis, such as employed in underwear, may be used.

The waistband portion of the gown comprises an integral external heading 3! formed in the manner shown in Figure 9, as by horizontally folding the garment sections at 32 and 33,. overlapping the folds, and gluing or heat-sealing the overlapped folds together. A tie string or tape 34 is contained in the heading 3!, the ends of the spring or tape being employed to secure the waist portion of the gown behind the wearer, as shown in Figure 2.

Instead of employing continuous main body sections, the main. body portion of the gown may comprise ablouse section 35 and a skirt section 3.6,. as shown in Figure 8. The integral tubular Waist band heading, shown at 3'1, is formed in the lower marginal portion of the blouse section and the lower margin of said blouse section is lapped over, adhered and/or stitched on the upper marginal portion of the skirt section.

The nurse's gown, shown at 38 in Figure 3, is generally similar in construction to the surgeon's gown above described, except that the sleeves, designated. at. 39, 39, are of three-quarter length, and are not provided with cuffs. According to the strength of the material used, the sleeves of the. nurses own may be hemmed at their lower edges.

The patients gown, shown at 48 in Figure 4, is also generally similar ,to the surgeons gown except that the waistband is omitted and the sleeves, shown at 4|, 4!, are of full length and. are not provided with cufis. According to the strength of the: material used, the sleeves of. the patients gown may be hemmed atv their lower-edges,

As above mentioned, the various sections of the own'are madeof paperor nonwoven fabric,v The neckpiecezmay be ofsofter grade,v if desired. A thin film of Dri-film, aluminum stearate, or a suitable plastic may be applied over the entire outer surface of the gown or over the front of the gown to make either the entir garment or the front ofv the garment substantially waterrepellent.

The gowns may be packaged either in hermetically sealed sterilized envelopes, as above described, or may be packaged in screw-top sealed cans which may be sterilized. in water by the application of heat.

Whilecertain specific embodiments of improved disposable hospital gowns have been disclosed in the foregoing description, it. will be understood thatv various modifications within the: spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A disposable hospital gown of the. character described comprising a main section of flexible nonwoven fibrous material of substantial length shaped to fit substantially entirely around a persons body, said gown having shoulder portions. respective flexible sleeves connected to the opposite shoulder portions-of said main section, a pair ofspace'd tubular headings integrally formed-at the end portion of each sleeve and extending around said sleeves, respective elastic bands in the headings, whereby each Dair of bands defines an elastic cuff at the end of a sleeve, a neckpiece of relatively soft material secured tothe top marginal portion of said main section and formed with elongated extensions at its ends adapted" to be tied together, a tubular heading integrally formed at the midportion of said main section and extending around said midportion, and a tie string in said last-named tubular heading;

' PHYLLIS B. GILPIN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 895,510 Snellenburg Aug, 11, 1908 1,560,997 Kelly s Nov. 16, 1925 2,1 3,911 Bjornson Apr. 12, 1938 2,436,060 Trokie et a1 Feb. 1'), 1948 2,440,666 Miller Apr. 27, 1948 2,4413% Kay May 11; 1948 2,465,286

Silversteen Mar. 22, 1949 

